2025 Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #12 out of 36 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 324 doctor's degrees in theology & religious vocations during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to theology & religious vocations students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other theology & religious vocations students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt theology & religious vocations students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized theology & religious vocations related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for theology & religious vocations students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Theology & Religious Vocations Schools

The theology & religious vocations school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Theology & Religious Vocations in the Great Lakes Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Theology & Religious Vocations

1

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

20 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a doctorate in theology & religious vocations from University of Notre Dame

2

Trinity International University - Illinois
Deerfield, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

31 Annual Graduates

Trinity International University - Illinois is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations. TIU Illinois is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Deerfield.More information about a doctorate in theology & religious vocations from Trinity International University - Illinois

Best Theology & Religious Vocations Colleges by State

Explore the best theology & religious vocations schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Indiana	29	53
Michigan	29	48
Ohio	29	92
Illinois	29	142
Wisconsin	27	4

View All Rankings >

Theology & Religious Vocations Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Theological & Ministerial Studies	156
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries	74
Theology & Religious Vocations (Other)	74
Missionary Studies	12
Religious Education	5
Sacred Music	3

Majors Similar to Theology & Religious Vocations

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Social Sciences	591
English Language & Literature	231
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	211
History	162
Communication & Journalism	128
Philosophy & Religious Studies	100
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies	56
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	41
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	3

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Daderot. More about our data sources and methodologies.